Something Vamped This Way Comes
by celticgothhardy
Summary: Criminals from the past are dying in jail. When one pops up as a vampire, the team gets wrapped up with Buffy Summers.
1. 1, 2, 3

Disclaimer: I don't own CSI NY or Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

AN- I have this posted in CSI Fandom. I wanted to see if anyone would be interested here. This first chapter is the three chapters over on the other site.

Read please.

* * *

"Guard found him just after daybreak. They didn't hear him doing his morning prayers like he's done for the last five months. Guy that found him noticed he wasn't moving, checked for a pulse and noticed the blood," Detective Don Flack reported, holding the pad out to recite from the notes he took when talking to the guard. Mac Taylor stood over the body of John Doe, the only name they could give to the Cabbie Killer.

"The press is going to have a field day with this story. Cabbie Killer Found Dead," Mac said, taking in the site of the man that had killed seven people. _Almost eight_, he thought, remembering the fact he had to hold the wounds on Reed's neck closed while the medics rushed to the scene. He pushed the memory aside as he took a look at the body. It wasn't the amount of blood that was next to the neck that caught his attention. It was the color. The blood was a deep red, almost black.

"Stella, take a shot of this," he said, grabbing a swab out of his kit while Stella Bonasera brought up the camera and took several photos of the blood. Mac took a sample and sealed it immediately.

--

"Reed," Mac said, surprised at the site of his stepson sitting on the couch in his office.

"Mac, I umm…" he started, standing up to face him. "Is it true?"

"Is what true?" He was looking at papers of cases that came in.

"Is he dead?"

Mac closed his eyes. "Yes, he's dead." He looked back up at Reed, who had his head bowed.

"I was hoping he was wrong."

Mac walked over to him. "Hoping who was wrong?"

"Andy Stevens, he took over the crime blog. He said he had an inside guy tell him that the Cabbie Killer was dead."

Mac noted that someone in the department was leaking stories before going on. "I didn't know you got moved."

Reed had a grim smile climb on his face. "Yeah," he huffed, which bordered on a laugh, "celebrity gossip. Editor thought it would be better for me to keep out of the limelight."

Mac was about to reply when his phone started ringing. He answered and listened for a few minutes. "I'll bring Lindsay and Hawkes. They can work on it as a separate crime scene," he informed, hanging up after.

"What's going on?" Reed asked.

"Someone just made the ME's van go off the road. The body's missing." Mac gathered his stuff and left Reed in his office.

Reed sank back on the couch and pulled out his phone. The real reason he had come to the office was on the phone. He pulled up the message he received three days ago. A picture of him sleeping took most of the space. There was still enough room however, to include a text at the bottom of the screen. "You're never safe. We'll be coming back."

* * *

The bodies of the driver and the medical assistant lay on the side of the road. Several police officers were waiting on the very outskirts of the scene, looking anywhere but at the bodies. Hawkes was the one pouring over the bodies, taking pictures and getting a closer look at anything lying beside the victims. Lindsay was going over the van that had been run off the road.

"Hawkes," he called, heading over to the bodies.

"I hope you haven't had any food. The bodies are ripped apart. Multiple lacerations along the chest that head down to the pelvic area; the neck has been severed with an unknown object and all the blood's been drained."

"Blood's been drained."

"Methodically, our perp chose the places that would bleed the most in a short amount of time. The carotid artery might have been the first target, but that will be determined with autopsy. Also," he pointed out several problems with the opened chest, "someone took out some of this guy's organs. The heart, liver and kidneys are missing."

"Note whatever you can now and tell Sid so he won't have to recreate the list."Hawkes nodded and pulled one of the ME assistances to list the items.

"This van is covered with blood. Arterial spray on the windshield and in the back," Lindsay started, making mention and pointing to the blood.

"It's not enough to account for the five to six liters that a normal adult male would have in their system. Arterial spray only accounts for a liter at best."

"Which means there are four to five liters missing for each of the victim that isn't here."

--

"Mac's not going to be back for a while. Maybe you should head home," Stella told Reed, walking into the office.

"Thanks, I-I think I'll wait."

Stella took the left side of him. "Reed, is something wrong?"

He looked down for a minute, contemplating whether to let her in, before he held out his cell phone. The photo was still on the front. "I don't know who sent it to me, but they took that within my apartment when I was sleeping."

Stella analyzed the photo for a minute. "All right, let's see if Adam can do anything." She led Reed down to the AV lab. He waited outside the glass while Stella handed his phone to Adam.

"I'll see if I can't track back to the number that sent the message. I'll check the number to see if anyone's connected to it."

"Thank you, Adam." Stella walked out and faced Reed. "All right, has anyone been harassing you?"

"Nothing beyond the normal threats."

"Threats?"

"Lawyers threatening to sue, people that call about the cabbie killer, nothing close to a death threat."

"Do you have any of those threats?"

"They're on the voice mail."

"All right," Stella said, wrapping her arm around Reed, "I'm going to send you home with Danny. He isn't doing anything with cases right now. Would you feel better if we had someone at the apartment?" She was leading him to the elevator.

"I think I'll be fine, thanks."

--

"Hey, we're going out for drinks after work Friday. Wanna join?" Danny asked Reed as he stepped out of the vehicle.

"As long as they are no celebrities. I don't feel like working when I should be relaxing." He was about to step into his building when he noticed a blood trial leading inside. "Uh, Danny?"

Danny turned off the vehicle and came out to join him. He drew his gun and was calling for backup. He went forward and warned Reed to stay outside.

The inside was dark. _Someone knocked out the lights,_ he thought, pulling out his flashlight and shining it before him. "NYPD, anyone here?" he yelled out. He took three steps and saw something hanging from the railing upstairs. He shined his light up to see a woman, around 30 years old. Her intestines were wrapped around the railing and holding her there. "What the hell…" he started before someone hit him in the head with something. He fell to the ground; the person then took his gun.

Reed waited outside until he heard someone coming out the door. He looked up expecting Danny, but saw a face that several hours earlier he had just been told was dead. "How is this possible?" he asked, unconsciously trying the door handle after backing into the car.

He was picked up by the neck and slammed against the car by a cold hand. Reed looked up into the face of the Cabbie Killer. "I still have to carry you across the river," he said. His other hand was holding Reed's right arm back while the one holding his neck had moved to the back of his head. His head was pulled back and the throat was moved forward. He tried kicking and hitting him, but that only enraged him.

The face that haunted him gave away to a different face. The eyes were a glowing yellow. The forehead to the area between the brows was scrunched. Canines that had been normal were now extended past to almost hit the lower gums. The teeth were now coming closer to Reed's neck.

* * *

"Carry him across the river? Are you sure you want to go across the Hudson?" a voice rang out, carrying a tone similar to sarcasm, "Because the currents will sweep you under and vampire strength doesn't help with the swimming too much."

The killer turned to a woman standing about ten feet away. She was wearing black jeans with a black shirt. Her blond hair was in a bun with two sticks sticking out. A leather jacket was being worn, but it wasn't zipped up. The man looked back at Reed and slammed him back against the car, causing his head to hit. He slid down the side and collapsed on the ground. "I need to carry you across," he again said in a monotone, pointing at him and facing the woman.

She had already cut half the distance when she was pulling out a stake from inside the jacket. He stood in place while she delivered a spinning kick. He caught her leg before it connected with his face. He twisted her legs so she ended up planting her face into the ground. The only thing that saved her was using her arms to block her face. Her position on the ground made her able to kick him in the chest. He let go of her leg and staggered a couple of feet back.

"Now you see," she started, delivering another kick that connected with his jaw, "you guys usually don't know how to stop me. So either you a, know who I am. Which given your total no saying who I am, I don't that's it." She delivered two quick blows to the abdomen, pushing him farther back.

Reed was just starting to come around and was holding the back of his head. He looked at the Cabbie Killer and the woman fighting him. His head was pounding but he wanted to check on Danny. He waited until they were a few feet away before going inside the building. He couldn't anything except the weak beam of light coming out of the flashlight. He picked up the flashlight and shined it down on the floor. Danny started groaning as soon as the light hit his eyes. "Hey, Danny, how badly are you hurt?" Reed whispered, not wanting to upset either of their heads and knowing the question "Are you okay?" would bring a "Are you an idiot?" look.

"Not bad, considering I got hit in the head. We might want to bring in some patrol though," Danny informed him, using him to lean on when getting up. They walked outside to the car, where Reed unlocked and set him in the back while he sat in the passenger's seat. Reed didn't see the Cabbie killer or the woman, so he figured they ran.

--

The Cabbie killer was starting to feel the pain of the hits when she delivered the round of punches. "I'm going to go with b, someone told you about me but they didn't give you a name," she pondered, using the time he didn't get up after her knocking him down to drive the stake in his heart. He disintegrated into a pile of dust.

She saw the guy was joined by another guy, older she noted. "Are you guys alright?" she asked.

"What happened to him?" Reed asked her.

"Let's just say you won't have to worry about him."

"That's what Mac said when they put him away."

"Put him away for what?"

"What are you two talking about? Reed, did you recognize the guy who attack me?" the other guy asked, hissing at his own voice hurting his head. She picked up an accent that fit with about half the contacts in the area.

"It was the Cabbie Killer," he mumbled.

Danny looked at him to see if he was joking. He wasn't. "How is that possible?"

"I don't know. It was him, all right? He said he still had to carry me across the river."

"All right, so how did the Cabbie Killer fake his death?"

"I don't know. He changed though; he grew fangs."

"Grew fangs? Like what, a vampire?"

"Ding ding ding, and the prize goes to the man with the glasses. Willow, tell him what we got for him," someone yelled, bringing hisses from both Danny and Reed.

"How about some ice? Don't yell so loud, Xander. They both have head injuries," the second voice replied. A man with an eye patch and dark hair and a woman with red hair walked into view.

"Vampires? Like Dracula?" Danny asked, laughing, "Soon you'll be telling me werewolves are real."

"My ex-boyfriend was a werewolf," Willow said defensively. Short sparks of electricity flew out of her hand.

"Will, he's not use to this like we are. He didn't see the guy vamped out. He did," the woman said, pointing at Reed. "I dusted this Cabbie Killer in the alley."

"On it," Xander saluted, going by with a handheld vacuum.

"What is he doing? This is a crime scene. I called for backup a couple of minutes ago," Danny said, standing up to face the woman. "Who are you?"

"My name's Buffy. The guy I fought was a vampire, and if you're right about him being in jail, then we have bigger problems than a crime scene."

* * *

So, how do you like it? Review and tell me please.


	2. 4, 5, 6

Title: Something Vamped This Way Comes (parts 4, 5, 6/I'm not sure yet)

Author: cghardy

Rating: PG (V, L)

Summary: Two teams join and more past to deal with.

Disclaimer: I don't own _CSI NY_ or _Buffy the Vampire Slayer_.

* * *

Mac Taylor didn't believe the scene or what his subordinate was telling him. Danny was telling him they cleaned up part of the crime scene. They being the three people now in handcuffs and in the back of a patrol car. He called for medics as soon as he heard both his colleague and stepson had obtained hits to the head.

"Mac!" Danny yelled as his boss. "Would you listen? It sounds fake but they've got enough evidence to convince me. And it's hard to convince me."

"Vampires? That's the reason there's a dead body in the building. Why both you and Reed have head injuries?"

"Yes. Those people you now have in the back of a car told us the main details before you got here."

"Then they were feeding you bullshit, Danny."

"It's not bullshit, Mac," a voice spoke up. Reed lifted his head and removed the icepack he had rested on it. "It was the Cabbie Killer. He had me up against the car and was going to..." He didn't even want to think about it, but forced himself to say it. "Drink my blood, feed off me, kill me."

"Reed…"

"Mac, is it normal for a guy to come back from the dead? Is it normal to when the guy gets enraged, his eyes start glowing, the forehead scrunches up and the canines extend enough to sink into the neck?"

"Reed, you don't…"

"Know what I'm talking about? I'm the one that saw the guy. He was going to kill me." He stood on shaky legs to face Mac. "This isn't fiction anymore, Mac. This is real."

-=-=-=-=-

Stella looked around at the cast of characters in the room. They had taken the biggest room in order to get everyone involved in the cases and who Mac was bringing in. She didn't believe the story until Reed came in and told her the story. The look in his eyes convinced her better than Mac's word. He was sitting in the back of the room, holding a bottle of pop and trying not to go asleep. Mac was by the line of screens. One had the jail scene up. Another had the medical van and its two victims.

One side of the room had the team. Lindsay and Danny were by each other and were talking in whispers. Hawkes and Sid were talking to an older gentleman that had come with the other group. Adam, the red-headed lady and the man with the eye patch, Willow and Xander according to Reed, were laughing at a joke unknown to her. Mac was talking to two women, the blond that had been at the scene of the latest victim and a dark brunette that was catching the eye of Adam. Xander noticed, leaned over and whispered something in Adam's ear that made him blush.

"Are you sure the men are not going to rise?" the older gentleman asked Sid and Hawkes.

"There was no trace of blood in his mouth that wasn't his. The blood hasn't gone dark," Hawkes told him.

Sid stepped in. "There's a slayer on duty for tonight. If either of them rise, she'll be there. Nothing to worry about, Giles. Just because I didn't get the right training doesn't mean I don't know anything," he assured him.

"Everyone," Mac shouted, bringing their attention to the front of the room. Stella moved up a little to get closer to the action. Reed stayed where he was, but raised his head to focus in on the group. The blond was standing next to him while the brunette was standing off to the side. Stella smirked at the sight of someone trying to stand next to Mac, who towered over her.

"Due to extraneous circumstances beyond any of our control, this group has been formed to figure out who, why and how the Cabbie Killer was turned into a vampire," Mac started.

"Before you get any further," Xander interrupted, "anyone wanna explain the Cabbie Killer to us outsiders? Didn't keep up with the news at the last place." He looked around at everyone in the room.

"Xander, you were supposed to read that," the blond said. _Buffy. _Stella placed a name with her face.

"Short version, he was a serial we had a couple of months back," Danny sidestepped.

"Got that part. Why would our inside guy go with this guy?"

"He almost killed me," Reed mumbled, looking at Xander, "More or less likely, this guy knows Mac and knows about me. So they chose him to get to me."

Xander wisely shut his mouth as Hawkes asked a question. "What do you mean inside guy?"

Buffy stepped up. "Whoever turned your killer had to get the guy within the prison system. That means someone within your system let him in."

"What system?"

"Could be any of them. Anyone within the police department, the attorney's office or the jail system would have the power to change prisoners or meet with prisoners. Could also be someone on the outside, but then the killer would have changed in prison last night instead of tonight, which brings the idea of someone within your system back up."

"They would have also needed to know where the medical van was, and that indicates someone on our side told them," Lindsay pointed out.

"We need to coordinate our efforts into bringing the person who did this down. Lindsay, you and Danny are still going to go the medical van evidence to see if the person is in any of our systems. Hawkes and Sid are going to go over the casts made from the injuries of the two victims down in the morgue. Mr. Giles will be joining you in using the books he bought that have several samples already prepped. We'll go through those first before having to resort to the databases."

Buffy took over for her side. "Will, I need you to go to the rumor mill. Find out if there's been any action in connection to the jail. It could be a donor that's arraigning this."

"Donor?" Danny asked.

"Someone that allows themselves to be fed off of. Xander, go to the contacts on the street and within the systems. Maybe they know something. Coffee style, got it?"

"Coffee style?" Sid brought up.

"Inconspicuous. Meals, meetings, chats with old friends. I honestly don't know why they call it coffee style," Giles explained.

"Because it's part of the style of picking up informants. Doing something that is a cover for something else," Reed informed him, bringing a little attention from the rest.

At the moment right after, six cell phones went off. Flack, then only one that had not been in the room during the whole discussion, came back into the room. "Don't bother, I've got the information faster then they called. Someone's gone missing from the prison," he informed them.

"Who?" Stella inquired.

"DJ Pratt."

* * *

"Okay, who's DJ Pratt?" Xander asked. Most of the people that had been leaving now stayed behind.

"A serial rapist. He murdered one of our friends," Stella shortened. Everyone that had a connection to her bowed their heads at this point. The only ones with heads raised were Lindsay, Sid, Reed and the slayer group.

"I'm going to warn the girls. Tell them to be on the lookout for this guy. Got a picture?" Faith asked, moving to the door. Flack handed her a mug shot that she went to copy while talking on the phone.

"What do you got on Pratt since he's been in prison?" Stella asked.

"He got praise for taking out a former officer. Used by several of the gangs to initiate new guys."

"What's the initiation?"

"Several guards report finding beaten guys in the showers." Everyone figured out what that meant.

"How many of your people are out on the street tonight?" Mac asked.

"I've got five groups out for the five sections of city," Buffy informed.

"How much in a group?"

"Three. Two slayers and a witch for emergencies. The witch has basic training in fighting, but they don't have the strength. Could be guy or girl."

"Well, now that we know Pratt has gone bi," Flack started.

"I don't think it's bi; I think it's a 'what he could get' situation. He couldn't get girls so he took the guys," Willow examined.

"Yeah, but if he's been turned, his entire outlook would have changed. He could be bi," Buffy noted.

"That helps," Stella mused.

"Alert both sides; tell them you have a rapist and murderer that goes after both sexes," Mac yelled. Faith signaled that she heard and started dialing again.

"Do we change what we do?" Lindsay asked.

"We still process, but not to find who turned the Cabbie Killer. We need to find out where he had been to find where DJ may be now. Go over any trace you can find with the van and the body at the apartment. Same assignments as before," Mac ordered. Everyone left, leaving Mac, Stella, Adam and Reed left in the room.

"Stella, about the picture on the phone," Adam hinted, looking over to Reed.

"Adam, this may not be the best time."

"What picture on what phone?" Mac intruded. Stella and Adam looked at each other, then at Reed. "Anybody want to tell me? Reed?"

_This is not the time._ "Someone took a picture of me sleeping in my bedroom," Reed mumbled.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"I was in your office, but you got called out on the ME van."

"Give me what you got, Adam," Stella said.

"It was an unregistered cell phone. It hasn't been used since, but when the cell phone is turned back on, it's going to be traced."

"What about the threats?"

"All to registered phones except for one, the same one that sent the picture."

"Show me."

"Us," Mac insinuated. Adam nodded and walked off. Stella and Mac followed him to the AV lab.

Reed just kept sitting in the room with the last person. "What am I supposed to do?" he pondered to the air.

Buffy looked at him. "Well, you could stay inside where it's nice and safe."

"It's not really safe if someone's working on the inside."

"True, what about your house?"

"Apartment and someone's already broken in to screw with me."

"Youch, almost as bad as when Angel broke into Willow's house and put all of her fish on a chain."

Reed had been taking a sip of pop and backwashed a lot back into the bottle. "Angel? Who was he?"

"Ex-boyfriend and vampire. Had a soul, lost it, gained it back but I had to kill him, came back and last I heard, he was working in Alaska trying to take out this nasty strain of vampires."

"Was the fish thing during the no soul part?"

"Yeah."

"Okay." Reed didn't say anything and just took another swig of his drink. His thinking time was interrupted by a vibration from his cell phone. He took it out to read a text message. "Damn, job calls."

"Job?"

"I'm a blogger with ."

"You're a reporter."

"Yeah."

Buffy watched him moving to leave. "You're in danger; do you really think it's a good idea to leave?"

"I have to. Otherwise, I'm going to be fired." Reed left the room, making sure not to catch the eyes of the people in the AV lab.

Sighing, Buffy called up the central unit. "Hey, Amy, I need a witch to follow a guy. Witch should do fine; I don't think he needs a slayer and a witch."

* * *

"I hate this blog," Reed hissed when he was standing across the street from a popular club. His editor had told him that several celebrities were going to be meeting at the entrance for someone's party. He wanted to be back on the crime blog.

_It almost got you killed._

It's the only thing that interests me.

_Crime interests a lot of people. Most people keep a healthy distance from it. You run towards it._

So does Mac and everyone else on the team. Is it unhealthy for them?

_They carry guns. Adam stays inside unless called out; he's got back-up. So does Hawkes. You don't._

Mac would run towards it even if he didn't have a gun.

_He's also a former Marine with training. You couldn't even fight back when Jase…_

No, I'm not going into that. Reed made himself focus back on the club to see several of the celebrities he was watching out for starting to appear. He made notes of it while not noticing someone coming up next to him. "They spell it L-O-W-E," the person told him.

He jumped at the voice. "I-it's shorthand. Saves space," he stuttered. "Who are you?"

"Sammie Sherborne, I'm a witch, wizard, and or warlock; basically I'm here to protect you," he introduced.

"Who sent you?"

"Buffy called right after you left. Figured you needed protection."

He sighed. "It doesn't help my job when someone's looking over my shoulder."

"It doesn't help Buffy when part of the people she needs to protect goes somewhere without someone to protect them. She's been doing this longer than you've been a reporter."

Reed looked up to see everyone he needed for the next entry in the blog. "I need to get to a computer. Know any good public ones?"

"She told me about your apartment. It's probably not safe anymore and…" He cut off the rambling at Reed's glare. "No, I don't know any public ones; we can always just drop by and grab yours before heading back to a safe spot."

"What safe spot?"

"We've got several in the city. There's one near the police station." He waited for Reed to start moving. "This is going to be really rude, but when you were having the argument between yourself and yourself, what weren't you going into when you started about Jase?"

Reed stood still. "How…"

"Your brain waves at that point were easy to pick up. I got a flash of something."

Reed started going faster. "That is really rude and I don't want to even mention Jase."

"It wouldn't happen to be about Jason Stoshion, would it?"

"You know Jason Stoshion?"

"I know of him and trust me, you can tell me. I know what he's done."

Reed was about to respond when he heard talking in an alleyway. He wordlessly pointed down and went in. Sammie shook his head and followed. They tucked behind a dumpster while listening to a group of three people in front of them. "I told you; the killer and Pratt were the only ones you were getting. Make do with Pratt," a voice commanded.

"I didn't know that the Slayer was going to intervene this quickly. Otherwise, I would have asked for Bedford. I need at least two vampires for the plan to work," another voice complained.

"We'll get one off the street; the plan isn't falling, Sinclair," the third voice chimed. Reed dropped his jaw at the revelation. _Chief Sinclair? Why?_

"I want Taylor and his team taken out," he hissed, getting face to face with the other person he was with.

"They will be. We need another one of his problems if you want it to happen," the guy told him.

"I'll find a way to get Bedford here. You still have DJ?"

"We got him some feed. He's having fun with a local girl. Likes playing with his food," the third guy told him.

"Good to know, tell him he's going to be playing with a close relation to Taylor's, male. Your partner is responsible for getting Taylor's stepson." Sinclair walked off without getting a conformation. He didn't go the way Reed and Sammie were hiding.

"We need to get out of here," Reed whispered. Sammie nodded and trotted back the way he came. "Do you have a cell phone?"

"Where's yours?"

"It's evidence because someone sent me a picture and I'm being threatened. Didn't Buffy tell you that?" Sammie brought out his cell phone and handed it to Reed. Reed dialed the number out of memory.

"Taylor."

"Mac, Sinclair's in on it."

"What? How do you know? Where are you?"

"He was having a meeting. They're going to break out Drew Bedford out next and DJ's a vampire and has a girl right now, but they're going to give him me."

"Reed, get back to the station."

"No, I'm going to one of the safe spots that they have set up near the station. Buffy should know it." Reed ended it before Mac could argue back.

"Come on, we should get you to the safe spot," Sammie stated, looking around before pushing him forward.  
-=-=-=-=-

Mac looked at the phone after Reed hung up. "Mac, what is it?" Stella asked.

"Sinclair. He's the inside guy."

"What do we do?"

"We take care of it. Adam, find out everything about Sinclair: assets, people, something unusual about him. See if Buffy can figure out anything at her end. Find someone you can coordinate with in her group."

"Got it," Adam shorted, sitting at a computer and bringing up several programs.

Stella stopped him in his office. "What did Reed tell you?"

"DJ's got a victim and apparently is a vampire. They're planning on giving him Reed. He's going to a safe spot that they've set up."

"Should we change Lindsay, Danny and Hawkes?"

"No, they may be able to come up with where DJ is."

"What do we do now?" Mac couldn't answer her. "Why don't we go see Reed? Find out exactly what he heard." He nodded, grabbing his jacket. _Mac Taylor speechless, that's something I never thought I would see or want to see._

* * *

Please review. How are these parts? Better, I hope.


	3. 7, 8, 9

Title: Something Vamped This Way Comes (parts 7, 8, 9/I'm not sure yet)

Author: cghardy

Rating: PG (V, L)

Summary: The counts keep adding up as Mac becomes broken, more is discovered and a safe house is no longer safe.

Disclaimer: I don't own _CSI NY_ or _Buffy the Vampire Slayer_.

* * *

His silence continued to the building that Buffy was driving them to. Stella looked over at him at different times to see a blank face, _a stoic face_. She worried about all the things happening to him. _Aiden, Clay, Drew, and all the worry with Reed have pushed him back._ She saw him taking tentative steps forward when he was dating Peyton. Then she ended the relationship with a Dear John letter and he stepped right back. _Why were you the only one, Claire? The only one that could pull him out of these times._

Getting to the building hadn't been a major challenge. They watched for Sinclair and anyone that worked closely with him. They showed their badges to the person that answered the door and opened it wider to let them in. A young male walked into the living room holding steaming mugs of tea. He turned and saw them standing in the hallway. "Sorry about Heav, she doesn't talk much. Who are you here for? The girls are out and..."

"Reed Garrett, we need to talk to him," Stella interrupted. Mac stood beside her, not reacting with anything. _Okay, this is just starting to scare me. _

"I'm guessing he's Mac," he pointed out. Mac still didn't react.

"Yes, that's Mac." They followed him into a room. A TV was on, but silenced. Reed was in an armchair across from it. His laptop was open and he was typing furiously. "Reed," she whispered, settling a hand on his shoulder. He looked up at her and closed his laptop.

He looked over to Mac, who hadn't said a word. "Mac. Mac? Earth to Mac." He waved a hand in front of his face. "What's wrong with Mac?"

"I think you broke him about Sinclair," Stella started, "Also, we need to talk about that."

"What I heard, who he was with, normal things." Stella nodded. "All right, Sinclair told them to they had to work with the Cabbie Killer and DJ Pratt. The killer was killed off too early by Buffy. They said they needed someone else. Sinclair said he wanted you guys taken out. One of the guys said they needed another one of his problems. Bedford, who is he?"

"Younger brother of an old friend. He thought I was a coward and used Stella to get to me," Mac revealed. Both Stella and Reed looked at him. "Sorry, it's taken me awhile."

"Did you recognize either of the people Sinclair was with?"

Reed shook his head. "I wasn't able to get into all of the records that we had on vampires and donors that there are in the area. From what I could get to, I couldn't find any matches," Sammie added.

"All right, how well is this place protected?"

"No vampire or demon can come in. It's our responsibility to not let the others in. Everyone here's been warned about Sinclair and the only police they trust are you guys and others we've friended. There are a few other safe houses and they've been warned."

"Reed, call every half hour and if you remember anything." Mac got up to leave when his phone started going off. "Taylor." After a minute, he shut the phone off. "Someone broke into his apartment. Nothing was taken and it looks like they were ready to take him. Neighbors report it was two people."

"Who's the closest to cover it?" Sammie asked. They both looked at him. "They may have cursed the place if they didn't find him."

"Danny's been called to cover the scene. He's going with Faith and Willow."

"Stella, we need to get back to the lab. Sinclair's been suspicious about both of us being out."

"Yeah, I'll take Danny's spot and try to find out if we know any of these guys."

"I look into Sinclair's handlings. If there's a legitimate way to get him out, he won't be able to keep his job. He'll be cut off from helping."

Stella looked back at Reed. "Are you going to be okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. I'll be confined until you find these guys, but I'll be fine."

"You're not going out for the job, right?"

"I told my boss that I'm under protective custody and cannot go out. He fired me, said this was my last blog."

"You can also find another job," Mac commented.

"None were as good as this one, though."

* * *

Danny stood in front of the apartment, waiting for Faith and Willow to finish inspecting. Willow had cast a detecting spell and spotted some type of spell. She was trying to narrow down the type of spell. "All right, how long is this going to take?" he asked.

"The spell check's going to take another ten minutes," Willow reported.

"All right, I'm going to cover the front door and anything outside." He picked up his kit and walked outside, leaving the door open. Faith went over and closed it, standing by it for any signs.

"Is that seriously going to take ten more minutes?" she asked.

"Yes, it's very complicated. Someone's been setting traps, like tracking a hacker."

"Making sure you couldn't render it safe."

"Possibly, or it may not be a harmful spell."

"What type of spell isn't harmful but still has traps?"

"I don't know. I have no idea the type of game they're playing."

-=-=-=-=-

"Lindsay, what do you got for me to do?" Stella asked, walking in the area.

"I'm still taking blood samples. I'm hoping for a stray DNA sample that I can test."

"Where have you been?"

"I'm still in the front."

"All right, back it is." Stella grabbed a handful of swabs and pulled herself into the back. After twenty minutes of collecting several more blood samples, they were finally done. Lindsay was packing hers in the cart. Stella brought hers out just as Sinclair was walking in. "Chief Sinclair, what can I do for you?"

"Taylor has been avoiding me for the last five hours. I want updates on the escapees."

"Detective Taylor has been working diligently to find the escapees. I'm sure he's not avoiding you; just not able to call at this time."

"Where can I find Detective Taylor?"

"Last I knew; he was in the AV lab checking on a security tape from the prison."

"Thank you." Leaving, he was already on his cell.

"Mac avoiding Sinclair? What's going on, Stella?" Lindsay asked as Sinclair was walking out of the room.

"Something very bad, Lindsay."

-=-=-=-=-

"Adam, what do you have on the phone?" Mac asked as soon as he walked in.

"The photos do not have a time stamp. And they were done on a camera. Not a camera phone, a camera. This was sent by a computer disguised as a cell phone. I have been running a trace and found that it was sent by a computer at an internet café. I will be waiting for the computer to come back on and I will trace it."

"All right, what about the security tape?"

"The hour during which someone would have come in and changed John Doe was erased."

"Inside?"

"The system was closed and the only way to get to the tapes is in the guard's center. It would have to be inside."

"Sinclair could have asked as a favor. Knock out the cameras so he could have Doe turned."

"Maybe he was also behind DJ Pratt getting out."

"Tape was also erased?" Adam nodded. "And we can't check now. Let's see if Flack can't get up to the prison with a couple of the girls and stay there to watch over him."

-=-=-=-=-

"Got it! It's a transport spell," Willow informed.

"Transport to where?" Faith asked.

"No idea, but I know it's linked for Reed and Reed only. We step in; it won't set off."

"Can you disable the spell?"

"Yep, then Danny can process." Willow started bringing out implements while Faith went to look for Danny.

Danny was processing a nearby grocery store that captured video of the assailants running away from the building. He also had snacks. "Investigating the ingredient lists? There's something criminal in those things," Faith joked.

"Not more criminal than the carts around the city. Flack never ate at those things again after finding cart central." He started eating when he started walking out. "Willow's done with the spell?"

"Transport spell directed to Reed only. Willow is now disabling the spell."

"Finally, we can figure out more people in the plan."

* * *

Andy and Jason went back to high school. Andy was the reporter covering the sports and the school's leading star, Jason Stoshion. Jason was going to Chelsea on a scholarship. Andy also went, and met Reed Garrett. Andy didn't like Reed, both competing for jobs on the paper while sharing a dorm room. Reed also made Jason mad at an article about a performance at a game. They bonded over the resulting attempts on Reed's life. Jason needed something or someone to take out frustration on. Andy gave him the idea and slipped out at several times and let Jason do whatever he wanted on Reed.

Now, Andy had taken Reed's blog. Jase was working with Sinclair. Both had been approached to help out. How could they refuse when it had to do with Reed?

-=-=-=-=-

"This should be easy. All the slayers are out. Only one in there is the witch and him. Other slayer went out for a bite," Jase summed, grabbing a gun and checking the magazine.

"No shooting. Sinclair wants him alive for DJ."

"Got it. Grab the cell also; we'll call Taylor on it."

"Don't want to look up the phone number?" Andy leered, earning a slap upside the head.

"It will be more meaningful if it comes from his cell." Jase gathered the handcuffs and the tape. "And I don't want to look for the number." He started walking up to the front door.

"We're going through the front door?"

"You want to try and disable their spells for security and protection?" Andy shook his head. "We need to be let in."

"We're not vampires."

"To the house, anyone that isn't recognized is an enemy, and is destroyed." After that, he knocked several times to arouse one of them.

"Let me in front, I can convince the guy. Hide yourself." He took out an envelope. He knocked again after a minute when he didn't hear anything.

Sammie was the one that opened the door. "Can I help you at two-thirty in the morning?"

"Yeah, boss wanted Reed's paycheck delivered to him. I volunteered."

_Who the hell is this guy and how does he know Reed? Wait, how does he know Reed's here? _"I'm sorry, Reed?"

"Reed Garrett, I heard he was here."

"Sorry, no Reed Garrett." He went to shut the door when Jase crashed through, holding a gun. Shooting twice, one hit the back wall while the other embedded into his right shoulder. "Jason Stoshion, I should have known."

"Yeah, and you didn't. Stay down and don't say anything. Otherwise, I'll put another bullet in a place that spells can't help." Sammie just glared at him as both went by. As they went by, he pulled out his cell phone and started to dial.

Reed was in the kitchen, waiting for the guys to go past. He had been getting a glass of water when he heard the shots. He felt the phone in his pocket, but didn't want to chance the phone going off and alerting them. Hearing feet on the floor above, he quickly went to grab Sammie and get out. He saw the blood coming out of the shoulder and winced, but kept moving as footsteps got nearer. "Where do we go?"

"There's a nurse at another safe house. It's in Queens though, we'll need a cab." He held the phone while Reed supported him and helped him out of the house. "Listen, we have two humans that have broken into the Manhattan safe house. I'm injured, someone's in danger. We need a slayer." He was about to continue when another shot ran out and hit him in the leg. "Keep going Reed. Now!" He dropped himself on the sidewalk and start whispering latin.

Reed had a moment of indecision that Jase used to run up and tackle him to the ground. "Fi…" His shout was cut short as Jase placed a rag in his mouth. He struggled against him as Jase threw him into the back of the car that Andy had pulled aside.

He couldn't get to the handcuffs that he had brought, so he used the seatbelt in the back, wrapping Reed's wrists and stretching it to also wrap around the headrest of the passenger seat. He brought out a syringe and a small vial of liquid. "Keep moving kid, you won't be for very long." He held the head still while he injected the liquid in his neck. Movement became lethargic as Reed succumbed to the sedative.

* * *

Review please.

And if any one has ideas for pranks, could you please send me a PM. I'm having a time trying to come up with three more. (Two for Pranking Wars and One for Wrong Victim). Please and Thank You.


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